Negaunee’s Baron Heslip, left, defends on a pass play against Menominee receiver Nathan Komp as Heslip would keep the pass from being completed during the first quarter of their West PAC game played at Miner Stadium in Negaunee on Oct. 11. (Journal photo by Caden Sierra)

MARQUETTE — A Negaunee senior defensive player was not only named an all-state football player in MHSAA Divisions 5 and 6, he was the Upper Peninsula’s lone representative on this honor squad made up of players from all around the state.

The new Michigan Sports Writers group — supplanting a similar group from The Associated Press — came out with its honor squad earlier this week.

And the Miners’ Baron Heslip was the only U.P. player making the Division 5-6 group at any level.

Heslip earned what is termed All-State — essentially the First Team or top team — at defensive back after Negaunee went 6-4 this past season. The Miners finished third in the rough-and-tumble West PAC Copper Division at 5-2, pretty good considering the only teams to defeat them in league games were former Great Northern Conference members Kingsford and Menominee.

The Miners qualified for the MHSAA Division 6 playoffs, where they bowed out 23-16 at Boyne City in the opening round.

Heslip played an important part of Negaunee’s defense that kept opponents at 20 points or less in every win and not more than 35 even in the losses.

He had six interceptions and 14 pass breakups during the season.

Heslip probably got the attention of the statewide voters after he was named Dream Team at both D-back and punter in All-U.P. voting conducted by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association in mid-November.

And the UPSSA knew about Heslip due to his being a unanimous pick at both those positions when coaches got together to decide West PAC Copper Division honors in late October.

The Division 5-6 all-state squad is headed up by Player of the Year Kadale Williams of Jackson Lumen Christi, a senior running back for the Titans, who won the D-6 state championship after bludgeoning Lansing Catholic 56-18 in the state finals on Thanksgiving weekend.

Williams is listed online as being recruited by at least four Mid-American Conference schools before he settled on the University of Toledo earlier this month.

From Boyne City, the team that knocked Negaunee out of the playoffs, was All-State running back Ryan Spate, also a senior, along with Second Team “athlete” Owen Hewitt.

Another northern Lower Peninsula honoree named All-State was senior defensive line player Luke Munger of Cheboygan.

And joining Heslip as All-State defensive backs were seniors Calondrey Hardy of Detroit Central and T.J. Seiler of Armada, along with junior Keegan McCue of Kalamazoo United Hackett.

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 552. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.